One of the best things about being an Army Brat was the sense of family no matter where you were. Especially in on-base housing, military families tend to stick together. It's so important because often, when a person leaves their home to serve in any one of the military branches, you leave behind the family you grew up with. Regular visits aren't always possible, and when the service member has a family, it can be even harder. That's where community comes in. Especially during the holidays, there's a bond that military families share.
Samantha, Corey, Melody, Ms Barbie (yes that was her name), Kimberly, Justin (both of them), Amberly, Timmy and his large family, Ms Richard-Dean and her family, Ms Frankie and her husband Frankie (no, I'm not kidding), Ms Joclyn (also known in our house as Batman), Ms Barbara Jordan, and Ms Juanita and Mr Roger and their kids.... All of them friends, either kids Amber and I played with or families who lived in the same building as us or went to the same church, people we met because of the Army in two different countries. And through the 'military' bond we shared, some of those families became extensions of our own.
I've had that feeling of community a time or two since I grew up, got married and had kids of my own, but it's been a while. Even better, I've had the chance to celebrate the holidays with extended family. Again, it's been a while. It's something I miss.
And then this year, we decided on the first night of our state's recent cold snap, to go to our small town's tree lighting celebration. Now, we've been once or twice but never with Matt, who has always had to work weekends. Well, no wait... Matt went last year, but we had to leave before Santa got there cause Matt had to leave for work and didn't want us walking home alone in the dark.
But this year, even with the temperature dropping and it being so very cold, the town showed up. It was awesome to see not only so many people, but all of those people with candles, awaiting Santa on his sleigh. And finally, Santa arrived, his sleigh safely perched on top of one of our local fire departments engines.
I wish I had a better picture, but if you click on this first picture, it might help. Isn't it awesome to see so many people celebrating, together, as a community?
While we waited for the ceremony part of the night to start, after Santa's arrival, the kids decided they wanted their picture taken with one of the firemen. And when he noticed Matt off to the side, that fireman gave me the best Christmas present so far this year... he offered to take a family picture. A couple posts ago, I mentioned how much I HATE being in pictures lately. I was sooooooo willing to get this picture. And so very grateful!
In case I don't have the chance to post again until after Christmas, I wanted to say....
Merry Christmas, everyone. May you have that sense of family and community that makes celebrating Christmas so much more of a blessing than it already is. And may you find joy in celebrating God's most precious gift to us, His son.
Smoochies Ya'll!
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